Delano gets soaked at Annandale

ANNANDALE — Playing in a constant light rain, Delano got soaked 13-8 by Annandale Oct. 5 at Annandale High School.

Each team did all of its scoring on one side of halftime.

The Cardinals put 13 points on the board in the first half. The Tigers scored all of their eight point in the fourth quarter.

“When we did have an offensive spurt in the first half, turnovers and missed blocks stopped any threats to score,” said Delano coach Merrill Pavlovich. “It took nearly three quarters of football before our offense responded in a positive drive.”

Annandale took the game’s opening kickoff and didn’t waste much time in getting to the end zone. On the 11th play of the opening drive, quarterback Peyton Fobbe snuck into the end zone from one-yard out.

Lauren Meidinger’s extra point made it 7-0 in favor of the Cardinals five minutes into the game.

Delano’s defense kept Annandale’s Peyton Fobbe bottled up pretty well Oct. 5 in the wet game at Annandale, but the Cardinal quarterback did find the end zone twice in the first half. Those two touchdowns proved to be the difference in Annandale’s 13-8.Photo by Matt Kane

A puntfest ate up the rest of the first quarter and a good chunk of the second.

Delano punted the ball away on its first three possessions of the game, and on four of its six possessions in the first half. The other two possessions came to an end via an interception and the game clock that ended half.

The turnover hurt, as it came on a possession that began at the Annandale 45-yard line, following a nice kick return by Brett Unrein.

The Annandale kickoff was spawned by Fobbe’s second touchdown run, a two-yard trot that gave the Cardinals a 13-0 lead.

The interception came on the fifth play of Delano’s drive from the 30-yard line. Brett Honsey stepped in front of the Max Otto pass to end Delano’s lone threat of the half with two minutes to play until halftime.

A score on that drive would have been huge in the Tigers’ effort to catch up to the Cardinals, as Delano received the second-half kickoff.

Delano never got any closer to the end zone in the first half. Two of its first-half possessions began inside its own 10-yard line.

Delano’s Nathan O’Sullivan intercepted a Fobbe pass early in the second quarter, but the turnover worked better than a punt for the Cardinals, as it came on a fourth-down play and O’Sullivan caught the ball and was immediately downed at Delano’s 1-yard line.

The Tigers punted the ball away from their own 9-yard line. Annandale’s drive began at the Delano 40-yard line, and ended with Fobbe’s second touchdown run.

Delano received the second-half kickoff and moved the ball to the Annandale 38-yard line, but did not get into the end zone. On the eighth play, Otto was intercepted for the second time in the game, this time by Mitchell Sullivan.

Delano’s defense forced a three-and-out. The Tigers offense responded with an 18-play drive that ate up 50 yards and nine minutes of the clock (bridging the third and fourth quarters), but it failed to find the end zone.

Delano turned the ball over on downs at the Annandale 20-yard line. The inability to find the end zone left the Tigers frustrated, but hope soon returned, thanks to the Annandale offense, which committed two penalties in three plays.

The second penalty was flagged for intentional grounding, when Fobbe threw the ball away from the end zone after fielding a bad snap. That violation committed in the end zone results in a safety. Delano was on the board with two points, and about to receive the ball via a free kick.

Delano took advantage of the circumstances by scoring its only touchdown of the game.

After using his arm on 10 consecutive plays, Otto tucked the ball in and pushed his way across the goal line for a three-yard score.

Otto’s pass on the conversion try fell incomplete, and the score was set at 13-8.

Delano converted two fourth-down plays on that scoring drive. Otto found Sam Kern for a nine-yard gain on a 4th-and-8 on the fourth play. And, on the 10th play, Otto connected with Trey Longstreet for an 11-yard gain on a 4th-and-5 situation.

That catch and tight-rope walk along the sideline by Longstreet put the ball on the 3-yard line and set up Otto’s touchdown run one play later.

Trailing by five points, Delano’s defense kept the game in reach by forcing Annandale to punt. The Tiger offense took over at its own 45-yard line with just over four minutes to play in the game.

Using a mix of runs and passes, the Tigers marched to the Annandale 14-yard line on 10 plays, but, this time, they were unable to convert on a fourth-down play.

Otto’s pass to Longstreet on 4th-and-9 fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs with 1:09 remaining on the clock.

Two Fobbe kneel-downs ended the game.

“We had several opportunities to win the game in the last five minutes,” said Pavlovich. “Our kids responded well in the second half but we let a key game on our schedule slip away.”

The loss was Delano’s second in as many weeks. It dropped the Tigers to 3-3 overall, and moved them back to the third spot in the Section 6-4A standings with only two games to play.

“We may have placed ourselves in a position that we gave up a first-round bye and possibly home field,” said Pavlovich. “Beginning with the Litchfield game (Friday), we will play three games in an 11-day window and potentially four games in 14 days. The season moves quickly at this point and we have to stay healthy and be focused.”

Zimmerman (4-2) and Big Lake (3-3) both sit ahead of Delano in the section standings, according to QRF rankings.